Political Misogyny Is Thriving Quite Nicely

The last three days have been a wicked carnival of heinous comments about Wendy Davis and her biography. They’re now calling it Trailergate, isn’t that cute?

Look, there’s no harm in discussing the cracks in her biography, but media politico-males have taken it to a dark level of shameless attacks, bordering on misogyny and harassment. The online comments that followed after the slut-shaming-language began were more horrible than you can imagine.

These gentlemen (what a misnomer!) remind me of pimply-faced junior high boys at the back of a classroom; taunting, bullying, snickering and giggling, and high-fiving, encouraging each other to ramp up the volume of audacity. It seemed to be some sort of he-man competition to determine who could make the most revolting statement. All of it was done at the expense of Wendy Davis and her family.

There are no words to describe my disgust at these comments, especially Robert Stacy McCain, who flippantly remarked that she is a “cheap, dishonest, two-timing floozy”.

I suggest that these men should repeat their off-color performances to an audience of their own wives and daughters. And let’s add their mothers to that group also! It’s a sure way to make Mom proud of you!

Of course, everyone sees this for what it really is: A desperately transparent tactic of intimidation and humiliation by Conservative men, but that’s an issue for another blog.

To be fair, this is not just a Democratic woman problem. It’s happened to women in both political parties. In the past, we’ve witnessed the same type of degradation and shaming from men on both sides of the aisle. The same sexist ugliness occurred when Sarah Palin was tapped as McCain’s running mate. I recall one media-male that remarked, “What we really want to know is this: Does she spit or swallow?”

Shameful…disgusting…

I don’t care if a woman is a Democrat or Republican. This should NOT be happening.

We witnessed the same treatment in Republican Nikki Haley’s gubernatorial campaign when legends of her torrid private sex life emerged, simply because she donned a pair of stiletto heels. We’ve seen the sexual orientation of powerful women like Hillary Clinton and Janet Napolitano questioned. We pay more attention to women’s fashion choices than to their messages, while men’s clothing, hair styles, and footwear escape the same scrutiny.

We see double standards.

A divorced mom who relinquishes custody to the father is viewed as a bad mother, but a father who does the same is merely “ambitious”. He supposedly makes personal sacrifices for the welfare of the children. If a woman has a wealthy or powerful husband then her success is attributed to him, rather than her individual efforts and accomplishments. She must have piggy-backed off his success; she couldn’t have possibly made it on her own! On the other hand, a woman who’s single, widowed or divorced is accused of employing her womanly assets to get ahead.

If a woman makes others laugh, she’s accused of sarcasm. If an assertive woman gets things done, she’s automatically labeled as “bossy”. All of these traits are lauded in a man...need I say more?

No matter what women do, they can never win in the eyes of their male counterparts.

If you think this is only a problem in America or Texas, think again. It thrives quite nicely in Lubbock, Texas.

Gender bias, shaming, sexual innuendos, and humiliation—all of it has gone on for years in our local government, in business circles and the local media. If a woman attempts to make an influence in business, politics, or policy-making in Lubbock County, they’d better be prepared to adhere to the West Texas stereotype of womanhood and more importantly, know their place, which is always beneath the man, both figuratively and literally.

Look back over the personnel history and changes within the City of Lubbock and the gender representation of the Lubbock City Council. Reflect over the last twenty years. Think of the women who’ve held executive positions in city government: Wendy Sitton, Anita Burgess, or Lee Ann Dumbauld. Each of these women was unrelentingly attacked by male members of the governmental body. The situation became so unbearable that Ms. Burgess relocated to another municipality and several men beat the war drums until Ms. Dumbauld was terminated. I have NO DOUBT whatsoever that unconscious gender bias had a role in these incidents.

Cultural, ethnic, racial and gender bias is so ingrained and subconscious in all of us that it persists without being recognized, but it’s crystal clear to outside observers through the communication of body language and literal language.

No one bears the scars more than an outspoken, hard-working woman who devoted several years to the City Council and the Lubbock School Board. She did so much for this community and was relentless attacked by men in our community, until the only respite came from moving out of Lubbock.

A very gracious and attractive self-made business woman was elected to the City Council in the late 90’s, but declined to seek another term because of the continual insults and verbal assaults on her intelligence, as if being attractive and bright cannot exist in the same body.

When our female Mayor Pro-Tem was forced to act as Mayor in early 2013, she was ridiculed and laughed at by a certain local radio station whose amusement is regularly fueled at the expense of other people’s dignity. It’s nothing more than junior high behavior exhibited by grown men.

Could this be the reason we have only two women on the Lubbock City Council? Few women would willingly expose themselves to this treatment. An extremely toxic workplace environment exists at the City of Lubbock and it’s certainly not a very well-kept secret.

The kerfuffle of last minute ballot changes by a certain Lubbock female judge is another example of the double standards at work in our city government. While I don’t condone her strategy, other men in Lubbock politics have employed similar tactics and much worse, yet there was such a hue and cry from her own party, you’d think she’d murdered someone. She simply used the good ol’ boy system (which for years, kept her neck under their boot) to her advantage and they did not take to it kindly.

We have a city attorney who recently referred to his female accuser per “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” which was intended to degrade, shame, and intimidate the victim. It was a low blow that didn’t help his case and effectively tarnished his halo.

It is not easy to be a woman in a world that defers to men.

This isn’t just about Wendy Davis. The recent attacks inflicted upon her are merely the tip of the iceberg; the most recent incident among thousands. It’s symbolical of the unreported misogyny that women suffer every single day; simply because of their gender.

It’s undeserved and an adult version of bullying. We don’t accept this in our schools, so why do we accept in our governing systems, the workplace and the media?

It’s time to disarm this systemic problem. Ladies need to own this situation and make a concerted effort to terminate it. The good news is that you don’t have to slap or slug anyone (although at times, I’m tempted). It just takes a few honest comments to disarm the humiliation, shaming, and guilt.

“I don’t like it when you talk that way (to) (about) me. Could you stop it, please?”

“Are you trying to humiliate me?”

“Is this an attempt to make me feel guilty?”

“Are you trying to make feel ashamed?”

“Would you say that same thing to your mother, your wife, your sister, or your daughter?”

If all of that fails, you have my permission to slug them.

It’s really simple: Women want a chance to accomplish things, just as men do. We’d prefer to do so with a minimum of difficulty or drama.

Carol Morgan is a career counselor, writer, speaker, former Democratic candidate for the Texas House and the award-winning author of Of Tapestry, Time and Tears, a historical fiction about the 1947 Partition of India. Email her at elizabethcmorgan@sbcglobal.net or follow her on Twitter @CounselorCarol1, on Facebook: CarolMorgan1 and her writer’s blog at www.carolmorgan.org

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Rep. Steve Pearce's (R-N.M.) memoir, "Just Fly the Plane, Stupid!" was released last month. Its publication -- and his acknowledgment in the book of the controversial nature of the submission debate -- come as the Republican Party reevaluates how it talks to and about women.

"The wife is to voluntarily submit, just as the husband is to lovingly lead and sacrifice," he writes, citing the Bible. "The husband’s part is to show up during the times of deep stress, take the leadership role and be accountable for the outcome, blaming no one else."

From CBS News: " “Democrats want to insult the women of America by making them believe that they are helpless without 'Uncle Sugar' coming in and for providing for them a prescription each month for birth control because they cannot control their libido or reproductive system without the help of the government - then so be it," Huckabee said at the RNC's winter meeting in Washington, D.C. "Let us take that discussion all across America because women are far more than the Democrats will play them to be.”

His remarks Thursday echoed comments he made on Fox News Saturday saying that “to reduce women to cheap government beggars for birth control is demeaning to the women I know, who are far more complicated than their libido and the management of their reproductive system....."

Translated: "Personal responsibility in the area of reproduction falls entirely on women. Men have nothing to do with this"

Yeah, you chose the real kicker. Huckabee is just foul, period. The only thing that tops his homophobic bigotry is his ignorant misogyny.

I suppose he may need to take a libido refresher course. Am pretty sure the pill has nothing to do with that and is used for for other important health reasons other than reproductive health.

Personally, I hope the Huckster continues to be the face of misogyny for the Republican Party along with Rush, Santorum, Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock. The rape experts. Redefining rape and redefining biological processes are have become trademarks of the Right. Then of course you have Dick Black who insists there is no such thing as rape between a married couple because she's got a "nighty" on and she's just laying there.

I do give some Republican's in Ohio some credit in denying a rapist paternal rights. That only took the monstrosity of Ariel Castro. Texas Republicans still lean in the pro rapist direction in that category.

And some of the women in the Republican Party aren't much better than the men when it comes to their voting records on reproductive health and services, contraception, equal pay, and maternity leave or pre K. They may not say the same things as the men do, but they sure vote the same way.

@Carol, as I read about some of the women you mention were treated, I am reminded how backwards and cut off some folks in Lubbock are. It really is like going back in a time machine. If you treated a woman like that in other parts of the country 15 20 years ago, you would have been fired or sent to HR for training. Pretty despicable.

Not to much to say about mis treatment of women really,,,,,,,,Lets just say golden boy Bill......."Come see my office".......Clinton. Being "accused" of supporting rapist rights etc. is not the same as actually using power and position to have sex with interns and using that same position to avoid jail......Then coming out of it being supported by the followers as the messiah........

What I said basically was, before you go all "hollier than thou", look at yourselves first. You are very quick to label ALL republican's as rape supporters, rapist right supporters etc. because you do not like a law, or whatever, passed by a very small number of republicans in the house.

By your logic then, as your golden boy Bill was the president and number one democrat, all democrats supported his affairs, his misuse of office and office space, and his lying on oath. You must have done because he has also appeared as key note speaker several times at the DNC after the event to appluase and fawning.

Here is a thought for you as well, IF two people get drunk and it results in sexual intercourse, can the woman next day say it was rape due to being drunk? If that is rape, then is the abuse of power over interns resulting in sexual intercourse not the same thing? Would these ladies have slept with him if he had been the janitor, or were they "drunk" on his power and celebrity at the time?

What I said was , "before you throw stones, check your own windows first". I think you will find democrats are not stain and blemish free, in the treatment of women. Even the drowning of a woman in your car does not necessarily result in jail time if you are a democrat, but you are likely to keep your job and be lauded in later life.

You should read my first comment again. I point to the offensive and false comments made by some Republicans regarding the pill and the various aspects of it to support legislation. I fail to see how a consensual affair between two adults compares to that level of misogyny.

Bush league. I never labled all republicans as rape supporters, but since you mentioned it, it is interesting that the GOP keeps producing these atrocious sound bytes from within their own ranks in order to pass legislation.

I think if you could actually follow my logic rather than distort it, you would see that comparing lies about sexual assault and biological functions of the female body in order to legislate is a far cry from lying about a consensual affair between two adults.

I don't know what conversation you are having with yourself within the second to last paragraph, but you can have that one with yourself. Creating false arguments and false comparisons is something I am not into and will not oblige you with.

Enjoy. Take solace in the fact that your recourse over dismissing spousal rape, redefining rape, and redefining biology is an extra marital affair.

This "misogyny strategy " by the left, is just another desperate tactic to avoid the failures of the Davis campaign. Sarah Palin was labeled as a boob for things she never even said. But Davis ,"actually said" those things about her past, and it blows the entire narrative of her "hard scrabble" climb up the ladder. I'm also not convinced that the left wants any civility in this "misogyny stategy". The only reason people know Davis is because of her stance on preserving late term abortions and her "hard scrabble sob story". Most people in Texas oppose late term abortions, and her story is now proven to be bogus. It's a desperate attempt by the left to distract from the failure of picking a losing candidate. As much as I couldn't stand Anne Richards, that gal had skin as thick as a Rhino's. Davis can't hang with the "big boys and girls". Thin skin.

Both sides are guilty of the excoriation of women in the political arena.

It's a man problem, NOT a party problem.

I thought I was pretty clear on that in my post because I mentioned (and criticized) the assassinations on Palin and Haley. (or perhaps some of you are "skimming and scanning" instead of actually reading?)

I also mentioned THREE Republican women at the local level who were slashed and burned by local office holders and media in Lubbock.

My point is this: The unconscious and ingrained gender bias of men, political systems and the media is preventing outstanding qualified women (on BOTH sides) from running for office. For some of the punishment inflictors, this treatment is merely amusement, for others it is a calculated effort to keep women out of politics via intimidation and humiliation.

I'm not buying any of this misogny nonsense. This progressive tactic is being used to stir up their base. The progressives used this tactic quite affectively against conservative men. Misogny accusations were used against Herman Cain and Allen West. Totally bogus claims by the way. The author of this blog even had a piece in October 2012 called "Don't Bind Me Bro" , which of course was a regurgitation of Romney's " Binder" remark. Now that Davis is sure to lose in Texas, and the US Senate has a chance to turn red, the progressives are now trying to be tolerant on this nonsense? I'm not buying into the left's latest cumbaya moment. Don't be fooled by the left.

I disagree. Yes, it is a man problem in general and I understand what you mean, but I have not seen the Democratic Party with the anti women rhetoric to support anti women legislation. A few bad actors as far as behavior, yes.

Yeah, I pretty much completely disagree with your assertion that it isn't a Party Problem with the GOP. They have and admit to have a rhetorical problem when it comes to their legislative goals. Which can be described as misogynistic. Unless, you too were against the Violence Against Women Act, Lily Ledbetter Act, Fair Pay Act, the retrograde anti abortion bills that are leaving the poorest women with fewer and fewer health resources?

I respect your opinion and I understand the broader argument you make, but I think you may want to reconsider your view of the misogyny politics within the GOP.

Have to agree with nowhereland. There's certainly misogyny to be found in many places. Clinton was like many powerful men, a hound dog and a scoundrel, but there's a qualitative difference between personal failings and calculated, orchestrated policy.

Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann support the same policies that the TEA GOP supports. The same policies and legislation those MEN used to attempt to redefine rape, redifine biology of women after rape, did not support or VOTE for the Lily Ledbetter ACT, or the Violence Against Women Act or Equal Pay.

I think it is fair to question folks, men or women, running for or in office, about their judgement, intelligence, and character without demeaning them.

Yes, some of the remarks made by Palin and Bachman were despicable, like the remarks made about them were, too.

I love your list of those who are behind the "War on women" and your ultra conservatives who are attempting to defend these positions.

I think that list would make a great Bruce Springsteen song with appropriate lyrics.......

With a name like "Eve" I guess we are to assume you are a woman, and take heart. From where you stand, it is clear you are not a modern women, and have never experienced what modern women are encountering.